Berks County

HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY STRUCTURE

A household is defined as one or more people living in a residence. A family is more than one person living together, either married or of the same bloodline. The head of a household is one of the people who owns or rents the residence and was indicated first on the Census questionnaire.

The tendency for people to marry at an older age and the number of married people getting divorced may have contributed to the overall drop in married couples. Also, it may more culturally acceptable for people to not get married at all or to have non-traditional relationships.

Household Types, 1990-2000
1990 2000
Number Percent Number Percent
Total Households 127,649 100.00% 141,570 100.00%
Married Couple 75,470 59.12% 78,517 55.46%
With Children* 31,628 24.78% 33,370 23.57%
Without Children* 43,842 34.35% 45,147 31.89%
Female Householder, no spouse 11,631 9.11% 14,038 9.92%
With Children* 6,056 4.74% 8,218 5.80%
Without Children* 5,575 4.37% 5,820 4.11%
Male Householder, no spouse 4,167 3.26% 5,908 4.17%
With Children* 1,867 1.46% 3,273 2.31%
Without Children* 2,300 1.80% 2,635 1.86%
Non-Family Households 36,381 28.50% 43,107 30.45%
Living Alone 30,044 23.54% 34,833 24.60%
Two or More Persons 6,337 4.96% 8,274 5.84%

*In this table, children are people under age 18.

Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

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